CHAPTER 13 UKRAINE TIMELINE

Founding of Kievan Rus, the first major Eastern Slavonic state. Kiev became the capital of Kievan Rus. 10th century

Rurik dynasty established, and the rule of Prince Vladimir the Great (Prince Volodymyr in Ukrainian) starts a golden age.

Under Yaroslav the Wise (grand prince 1019–1054), Kyiv becomes Eastern Europe’s chief political and cultural center. Foreign Domination

1237–40 Mongols invade the Rus principalities, destroying many cities and ending Kievan Rus’s power. The Tatars, as the Mongol invaders became known, establish the empire of the Golden Horde.

1349-1430 Poland and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth gradually annex most of what is now Western and Northern Ukraine.

1441 Crimean Khanate breaks free of the Golden Horde and conquers most of modern Southern Ukraine.

1648–1657 Cossack uprising against Polish rule establishes Hetmanate, regarded in Ukraine as the forerunner of the modern independent state.

1654 Treaty of Pereyaslavl begins process of transforming Hetmanate into a vassal of Russia.

1686 Treaty of Eternal Peace between Russia and Poland ends 37 years of war with the Ottoman Empire in what became Ukraine and partitions the Hetmanate.

1708-09 Mazepa uprising attempts to free the eastern Hetmanate from Russian rule, during the prolonged Great Northern War that ranged Russia against Poland and Sweden at the time.

1764 Russia abolishes the eastern Hetmanate and establishes the Little Russia governorate as a transitional entity until the full annexation of the territory in 1781.

1772-1795 Most of Western Ukraine is absorbed into the Russian Empire through the partitions of Poland.

1783 Russia takes over Southern Ukraine through the annexation of the Crimean Khanate.

19th century

National cultural reawakening sees the development of Ukrainian literature, education, and historical research. Habsburg-run Galicia, acquired during the partitions of Poland, becomes a center for Ukrainian political and cultural activity, as Russia bans the use of the Ukrainian language on its own territory.

20th century

1917 Central Rada council set up in Kyiv following collapse of Russian Empire.

1918 Ukraine declares independence. Numerous rival governments vie for control for some or all of Ukraine during ensuing civil war.

1921 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic established when Russian Red Army conquers two-thirds of Ukraine. Western third becomes part of Poland.

1920s The Soviet government encourages Ukrainian language and culture within strict political bounds, although this process is reversed in the 1930s.

1932 - Millions die in a man-made famine during Stalin’s collectivization campaign, known in Ukraine as the Holodomor.

1939 Western Ukraine is annexed by the Soviet Union under the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

1941 Ukraine suffers terrible wartime devastation as Nazis occupy the country until 1944. More than five million Ukrainians die fighting Nazi Germany. Most of Ukraine’s 1.5 million Jews are killed by the Nazis.

1944 Stalin deports 200,000 Crimean Tatars to Siberia and Central Asia following false accusations of collaboration with Nazi Germany.

1954 Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev surprises by transferring the Crimean Peninsula to Ukraine. Armed resistance to Soviet rule ends with capture of last commander of Ukrainian Insurgent Army.

1960s Increase in covert opposition to Soviet rule, leading to repression of dissidents in 1972.

1986 A reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power station explodes, sending a radioactive plume across Europe. Desperate efforts are made to contain the damaged reactor within a huge concrete cover.

1991 Ukraine declares independence after attempted coup in Moscow.

1990s About 250,000 Crimean Tatars and their descendants return to Crimea following collapse of Soviet Union.

A New Beginning

In 1994, Ukraine became the first former Soviet republic to make a peaceful transfer of power via the ballot box. Leonid Kuchma won a presidential election, replacing Leonid Kravchuk.

A new constitution was adopted in 1996, but the government struggled to implement reforms and the economy stagnated.

Despite rising dissatisfaction, Kuchma was re-elected in 1999. A protest movement calling for his resignation gained momentum in the early 2000s.

A presidential election in 2004 showed the pro-Russia candidate, Viktor Yanukovych, a former governor of Donetsk region, to be the winner. But evidence of widespread fraud prompted mass protests in Kyiv (formerly Kiev) which came to be known as the Orange Revolution and forced a new election.

Victory for Viktor Yushchenko, a political opponent of Kuchma and former Prime Minister, raised belief that Ukraine would move its allegiances towards the West, liberalizing its political and economic systems.

But Yushchenko’s reformist coalition lacked cohesion and failed to implement significant reforms. A party led by Yanukovych won parliamentary elections in 2006, and after prolonged negotiations he was named Prime Minister.

Political and economic uncertainty persisted.

In 2009, Russia cut gas supplies to Ukraine amid a dispute over Kyiv’s debt payments. Gas deliveries to many EU states were also affected. In 2010, Yanukovych was elected President and steered Ukraine back towards closer relations with Russia.

He pushed through constitutional changes that enhanced presidential authority and took action to curb dissent. In 2011, Yulia Tymoshenko, a Yanukovych foe and a former Prime Minister, was jailed.

In late 2013, Yanukovych backed away from signing an association agreement with the EU, prompting large-scale protests, known as the Euromaidan movement. In February 2014, Yanukovych fled the capital and was subsequently impeached by parliament.

A pro-western coalition took power.

Widespread instability hit eastern regions of Ukraine, as separatist elements, with suspected backing from Russia, took control of several cities and towns. In late May, the pro-West billionaire Petro Poroshenko won a decisive victory in the presidential election, vowing to restore law and order to the East.

War broke out in 2014 after Russian-backed rebels seized government buildings in towns and cities across eastern Ukraine. Intense fighting left portions of Luhansk and Donetsk, in the Donbas region, in the hands of Russian-backed separatists. The Ukraine Government launched a military operation in response.

Russia also annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

In July 2014, Pro-Russian forces within Ukraine firing a Russian-made Buk missile shot down Malaysian airline flight MH17 over the eastern Ukraine conflict zone, killing all 298 people on board.

[In March 2022, Australia and the Netherlands — whose citizens were among those who perished on the Boeing 777 — began legal action against Russia over the downing of MH17. They maintained Russia was responsible for the attack and initiated legal proceedings in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). They have sought an apology and compensation for the family members of victims.]

In September, NATO confirmed Russian troops and heavy military equipment entered eastern Ukraine.

Parliamentary elections in October produced a convincing majority for pro-Western parties.

In July 2017 Ukraine’s association agreement with the European Union was ratified by all signatories and came into force on September 1.

In May 2018, Russian President Putin officially opened a bridge linking southern Russia to Crimea, an action Ukraine called illegal.

President Zelensky

Television comedian Volodymyr Zelensky won a presidential election run-off in a landslide victory over incumbent Petro Poroshenko in April and July 2019.

He took office in May, and his Servant of the People party won early parliamentary elections in July.

In August the Parliament appointed President Zelensky’s aide Oleksiy Honcharuk Prime Minister. A month later, Russia and Ukraine swapped prisoners captured in the wake of Moscow’s seizure of Crimea and intervention in the Donbas.

In October, Ukraine became embroiled in a US impeachment row over allegations President Trump tried to put pressure on the country over investigating possible Democrat president rival Joe Biden.

In March 2020 President Zelensky appointed former businessman Denys Shmyhal Prime Minister with a mandate to stimulate industrial revival and improve tax receipts.

In February 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine.

Timeline source: BBC